Wyoming Wrangler
by Tauna Petit-Strawn
Summary: The Barkleys hire a wrangler from Wyoming to break in some horses. Thing is, they don't realize the wrangler is really their missing brother Eugene, and he's not telling them. Rated T to be safe. Title and Genre always subject to change. If this site would include a place for Eugene in the character spot, I'd have put him in it. As it is, I'm leaving that spot blank.
1. Chapter 1

Wyoming Wrangler

Chapter One

"Are you all right, Nick?" Heath asked as he and his brother rode around the ranch inspecting a stretch of fence line. The dark haired rancher had been feeling restless all morning, and he didn't know why. It was the not knowing why that had Nick acting out of sorts all morning.

"Of course, I am!" Nick snapped and then started shaking his head. "I just have a funny way of showin' it." He grinned at his brother and did his best to shake off the same uneasy feeling that had been plaguing him since he'd gone to bed the night before. He then grew serious again and told Heath what he'd been feeling. He was surprised to learn Heath had been feeling the same way.

"If we get home and Jarrod or any of the others have been feeling the same way, I'll wonder what's comin'."

"Maybe we'll be lucky," Nick said as he smiled and stepped away from the fence they'd been looking at and remounted his horse, "and it will only mean Jarrod and Camille are announcing their engagement." Their dear brother had been seriously courting a five foot four inch, brunette by the name of Camille Sawyers, no relation to Charlie Sawyers thank heavens.

"If that is the case, they'll probably have the biggest weddin' in California. I mean, with every family member in attendance, it would be quite the crowd." Heath shot Nick a lopsided grin. He was startled by Nick's next words and his actions, though he didn't know why.

"Not everyone," Nick looked away and closed his eyes for a moment. It didn't take Heath but a split second before he caught on to what his brother was saying. Eugene, Eugene would not be there.

Heath said nothing as the two finished and headed home, his mind on his youngest brother. Everyone had expected the youngest Barkley to finish college and become a doctor or at least a veterinarian. The day he dropped out of Berkley and come home asking Nick to hire him on as one of his hands had shocked them all. Jarrod and Victoria had had frank talks with him, telling him he needed to go back and finish what he'd started. When he'd started to explain, he'd been told not to argue. He'd received, basically, the same sort of lecture from Nick only with less fancy words.

_"Suppose your gonna tell me the same thing!" Eugene stood next to the corral and glared at Heath, who had walked up as Nick stormed away. ___

_"Nope," Heath had leaned against the fence and watched as the new stallion Nick had caught the other day ran around in circles, "figure a man's got to follow his own dream. Might not catch it, but he still gotta chase it. I'll talk to Nick for you." ___

_"Thanks," Eugene slapped his hand on Heath's back. __  
_  
Heath sighed as he saw the house come into view. Talking with Nick, the others, it had done no good. They'd all been adamant that baby brother go back to college. With that being the case, everyone but Heath had been shocked to wake up one morning and find Eugene and his horse missing. The ensuing tears and guilt that followed and faded to some degree over time, but as they'd never heard from him again…they had been left to wonder and cope the best they could.

Heath turned and looked at Nick. His heart went out to his brother as he saw the old familiar pain that would appear in Nick's eyes this time of the year, the time of year he and Eugene had literally had it out in the front yard…the night before their baby brother up and disappeared. He knew Nick blamed himself, though no one else did. If anything, they each blamed the whole family except for Heath. After all, they couldn't blame him as he'd backed Gene up.

**0000 ****  
**  
The old log cabin's door groaned as its handle was turned and it was opened. Throwing his carpetbag on the table that sat next to the east wall, the gentleman that had opened the door began looking around. It seemed like ten years since he'd been in this cabin that sat in the foothills of Sonora or any place within miles of it when in all reality it had only been four. He would have preferred to have made it to his destination, but one thing after another had slowed down his travels.

He looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. He no longer had the baby face he'd once claimed for his own, his hairless face sported a full beard, a thick mustache and his light brown hair had turned more of an auburn color and was definitely longer than it had been before. Also, thanks to a bout with a severe illness when he was twenty-two, his throat had been affected to the point where the sound of his voice was raspy and sounded different; question was, how different? He couldn't help but wonder if anyone who knew him in the past would even recognize him. Then again, maybe he didn't want to be recognized. It gave him more privacy, more time to prepare himself for what he'd come back to California for.

Walking over to the bed that sat against the south wall, the man most knew as Buck Adams, a name he'd picked up after getting amnesia for an extremely small amount of time and never let go of even when his memories returned, laid down and stretched out his legs. He could hear Jessie whistling outside and talking to their horses. He had to smile when he thought of the woman he'd married just last year.

Jessie stood a mere four feet ten inches, had dark brown hair which she wore, for the most part, up in a bun on the back of her head and her dresses were made of simple cotton yet beautiful. Jessie was a hard worker, strong willed and a wonderful cook; she was also his best friend. He'd actually met her when her father hired him to work on the man's ranch in central Wyoming. She'd only been fourteen then. He hadn't seriously looked at her until they'd known each other a year, and even then he was cautious. By the time she hit sixteen he knew he was in love with her. Since her parents liked him (and probably saw it as a way to keep their daughter close by) they'd consented to the marriage. Only when Jessie walked in did her husband sit up.

"You having second thoughts?" Jessie asked as she started putting away her things and the food they had with them. She asked the question knowing full well, due to his behavior the past few days, he had to be questioning trip at least a little bit.

"Some," he admitted as he stood up and went to help her, "though remember, you agreed to say nothing when it comes to my past once we hit Stockton." If, after they rested up for a few days, they headed straight for Stockton it should only take them a day.

Jessie shrugged as she looked at him. "You're the one that made the promise to a dying man, not me. Why should I say anything?" She gave him a quick kiss and went back to work, silently grateful her father had pushed him to at least return home and 'test the waters', to see if things could be worked out. That is, after her husband had broken down and told her father everything.


	2. Wrangler Needed

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Two**

After Jarrod had indeed announced his engagement he'd talked to his brothers about them traveling to Sonora and getting a new pump for one of their mines. He even suggested looking at some horses while they were there as well. By the time Nick and Heath reached the small town it was noon and they were hungry. They walked into the small café that the town of Sonora claimed. The establishment was filled almost to capacity. Fortunately for the two brothers, there was an empty table in the corner. They smiled as a pretty young waitress walked up to them. However, the smiles that said 'this could be interesting' were cut short when they saw the wedding band upon her finger.

"May I get you a seat?" Jessie asked. Her friends had bought the café and the young woman had agreed to help out in the establishment for the few days she and her husband would be in the area. Of course, if Buck had objected in the least, she'd have stayed home. As it was, he'd simply smiled and told her he wasn't stopping her from helping good friends.

"Thank you, ma'am." Heath nodded his head slightly as he answered. Nick did the same.

"Name's Jessie, Jessie Adams. Please, follow me." She led them to the empty table, handed them their menus and promised to come back after they'd had a few minutes to look at what the café had to offer.

"Once we get home, we'll have to get those stallions McCall and the other men brought and break them in. Is Lee going to be able to come out again this year and help break them for us?" Heath asked somewhat hesitantly. Lee Jacobs had had a disagreement with Nick the year before and he, Heath, wasn't sure the man would consent to come back or not.

"He can't. He moved back to South Dakota. I've asked around, plenty of men willing to work on a ranch, but just can't seem to find one willing to take the risk of breaking his neck right now." Nick answered in disgust.

"Sirs," Mr. Erickson, the café owner, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and took a chance, knowing Mr. Adams would be looking for work around the Stockton area and what the man did for a living, "may I be so bold as to ask if my friend, Buck Adams, could talk to you? He's heading to Stockton in a few days and he needs work."

Nick leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. "We're talking breaking in horses, sir. I can't be hirin' just anybody for that job. Do you know of this Mr. Adams has ever broken in horses?"

Mr. Erickson started beaming from ear to ear. "Yes, he has sir. From what his wife told me when I first met them while traveling through Wyoming, Buck started breakin' in horses a number of years ago, but really hit the profession hard once his wife's father hired him. Personally, I'll admit I wish he'd find another line of work. There has got to be a better way for a young twenty-four year old man to make a living, especially when he's supporting his seventeen year old wife. Then again," the man chuckled, "He's extremely good at it. Just," he paused as he thought of one thing he knew might just cause Buck trouble, "Don't ask him about his past."

That put Nick and Heath both on high alert. Usually when a body didn't want someone asking questions, not that it was polite to do so anyway, it meant they had been on the wrong side of the law. Before they could say anything, Mr. Erickson hurried on. "He's never been in jail nor is he wanted by the law; something just happened, I don't know what. All I know for sure is, whatever it was is not open to discussion and that he's an expert at breaking in horses. Though, as long as he's not wanted by the law, should his past really matter?" the fact that the gentleman was sincere could be seen as his eyes held a look of conviction and his arms were crossed while standing in a stance that screamed 'I dare you to disagree with me'.

Nick and Heath both chuckled at the sight. The man had a point, and they both knew it. "We'll be in town until tomorrow morning." Nick relaxed as he made sure the chair he was sitting on was once again sitting on all four legs, "We'll be staying at the boarding house. Have him ask for Nick Barkley."

He smiled, thanked Nick and went back to work, but not before telling Jessie he needed to talk to her once the café closed.

**0000**

Jessie braced herself as she stood on the steps of her friend's home where she and her husband were now staying. Their friends, the Erickson's, had insisted on the two of them staying with them while they were in Sonora; since they needed Jessie's help. She was sure her husband was going to explode when she told him about her friend lining up a job at the café this morning; he did.

"He did what?" Buck, who had been sitting on the porch, jumped to his feet when Jessie told him what Mr. Erickson had done and what he'd told her. He didn't know whether to hug the guy for having a good enough heart to want to help him out, or to scream. He'd hoped for more time before seeing his brothers, more time to prepare for the fact that if they did recognize him, they just might try pressuring him to changing his name back right there and then, along with demanding explanations he didn't want to give quite yet.

"He meant well, dear. He knows you'll be needin' work." Jessie walked up the steps and stood next to her husband. "If I had known who they were when they first came into the café, I might have talked to Mr. Erickson, but I didn't." She wasn't going to beat herself up over it either. Why should she? There was nothing she could do about it anyway.

Eugene Barkley…Buck rubbed his head as he thought on his real name and the history the name had connected to it. "If they recognize me," he said as he wrapped his arms around his wife's waist and pulled her to him, "They'll rip into me for taking off the way I did and, most likely, push me to change my name back." Even after four years, he still found himself fighting the resentment of not being listened to at times; this was one of those times.

Jessie pulled her hands off his arms and turned her palms up before laying them on his arms once more. "They might, doesn't mean you have to. Then again," she paused and then spoke more quietly, "Your appearance has changed drastically and your voice doesn't sound quite the same." She smiled as she then ran her hands down his back, "They might very well not know who you are. If they don't, it would still be up to you when to reveal the truth."

Jessie had a way of looking up at him, under her long eyelashes that soothed his nerves; always had. She moved her hands, caressing back and his arms while looking up at him with a warm smile and a tingle to her touch. Buck pushed the thought of talking to his brothers aside and led his wife inside and to their bedroom.


	3. Hired

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Three**

Nick and Heath dressed and made their way down to the boarding house's dining room. "I hope her cooking is as good as Virginia's." Nick smiled as he thought on his steady gal. She was a widow with a two year old son, Bryan. The two were in Nevada visiting her parents for a couple of months and to attend a cousin's wedding. The idea of a marriage between the two was something that was somewhat starting to be tossed around between the two.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Heath gave him a lopsided grin as he thought on MaryAnn and her cooking. Mary Ann was a young woman he'd only recently started courting. She had been in San Francisco visiting her parents, though he expected her back by the time he returned home.

While Nick and Heath had dressed, the morning sun decided to get out of bed early itself, but not as early as Buck. He had eaten breakfast, kissed his wife goodbye and was walking the streets of Sonora just as the darkness faded away. Buck had needed time to think without anyone around. By the time he reached the boarding house, he could see Nick and Heath through a window that had its curtains slightly opened. They were eating breakfast and visiting with a man who Buck assumed was another boarder. A woman was just setting a plate before the third man. _"Promise me you'll go back, son. At least go back as Buck Adams and feel your family out. See what they're feelings are now. If you and my daughter are to have a truly good life, you need these ghosts, ghosts I call perceived rejection and different dreams, laid to rest."_The words spoken by his dying father-in-law, and the promise Buck had made to do so, moved his feet up the steps. He began knocking on the door praying he wasn't making a big mistake.

Mrs. Mitchell, owner of the boarding house, heard the knocking and excused herself, leaving her guests to their meal. However, Nick and Heath both stopped eating when the most raspy, odd voice they'd ever heard wafted into the dining room.

"Name's Buck Adams, ma'am, I was told I could find one Nick Barkley here." Nick put down his utensils, stood up and walked into the living room with Heath following. Mrs. Mitchell said nothing as she slipped back into the dining room.

For a moment no one said anything. Nick and Heath were busy looking over the stranger with thick dark brown, slightly wavey hair that touched the top of his collar, and a well kept beard and mustache. All the while Buck held his breath to see if they'd recognize him.

It was Nick who broke the silence. "I'm Nick Barkley."

"Mr. Erickson said you were lookin' fer a wrangler." Buck almost cringed when he said "fer". There was a time he wouldn't have used "such language" but, over time, he'd found a few words slipping into his speech. "Fer" was one of them. He couldn't help but wonder if the few words, along with the way he had physically changed, would make that big of a difference. He got his answer as Nick and Heath looked at him as if they knew they should know him from someplace, but were wondering where from.

It was all Nick could do to stand. He knew that voice from somewhere only, as raspy and odd sounding as it was, he couldn't place it! That and the fact that his gut was telling him he knew the man before him, yet he didn't, had Nick feeling uneasy. If he knew him from the past, where had he met him?

"Well?" Buck felt his heart going a thousand beats a minute as he wondered if Nick was in the process of recognizing him as his younger brother, Eugene.

"I am. He told me you're quite the expert at it." Okay, so the man hadn't flat out said those words, only he sure had implied it. Nick, who had put his hands on his hips, kept them there and waited to hear what the stranger would answer.

"I wouldn't say expert, only yes," he nodded as he stood as straight and tall as he could, "I've survived so far. You'll get your money's worth out of me if you hire me, Mr. Barkley." Buck figured the last thing he needed to do was call Nick by his first name. After all, he was supposed to be a stranger to them.

Before Nick could say another word, Heath shocked both men by speaking up and asking, "Have we met before?" Heath had been studying their visitor and, like Nick, was having trouble placing the voice due to the odd sound attached to it. The more Heath studied him, the more he felt like they had indeed met. Only problem was, he couldn't place him and that bothered him…even if he did get the strong impression he was a good man.

Had they met before? Buck knew he should confess everything right then and there, only he froze and couldn't get himself to do it. He managed to keep a straight face as he replied with a respectful tone in his voice, "If you tell me where we've met, then we'll both know." He knew his brothers would assume that was just a way of saying he didn't know if their paths had crossed or not. It didn't matter though; it was a way to answer his blond haired brother's question without confessing who he was quite yet.

Nick did not like feeling that he should know the man and almost turned him down, only to pale slightly as he heard his father's voice begging him to hire the man on. _"So help me, father,"_ Nick thought to himself, _"You better not be saying you fathered yet another child outside of your marriage! I'll flat out disown you if that is the case!"_"You married?" Nick asked as he thought on the pretty young waitress with the same last name and a simple wedding band upon her hand.

"Yes, my wife's name is Jessie. I understood she waited on you and…" he almost slipped up and said brother, but then realized his wife had not said that Mr. Erickson had told her what the relationship was between the two customers "…your friend there." He motioned towards Heath.

"Heath is my brother and my friend." Nick corrected him and then decided to heed the thought that had come into his head. "I'll give you a chance. We have a small house on the ranch that you and your wife can use. I'll wire my family about it. How soon can the two of you be ready to leave?"

Buck knew his friends had talked about keeping Jessie on for a few days, but if he asked for a job then delayed taking he would only be sending mixed messages. "Tomorrow morning. Jessie's already told the Erickson's she'd help them with the dinner shift."

"Fine," Nick then proceeded to tell him how to get to the ranch and who to ask for if he, Nick, wasn't around. Afterwards, Buck turned around and left the boarding house.

Nick watched as Heath walked over to the window and watched the young man walk away. He didn't like the look on his brother's face. Because he had long ago learned to be leery of anyone that made Heath uncomfortable, Nick walked up beside Heath and asked, "If you don't agree with hirin' him, why not say something?"

Heath shook his head and answered quietly, "I don't disagree. If anything, I feel strongly we should hire him and give him a chance." Nick heard what Heath was not saying.

Nick watched as Buck walked, he watched as he reached the end of the block and disappeared around the corner. "You know him, but you don't remember, and that bothers you." The way he said the words told Heath that Nick was troubled by the same feelings, and he nodded.

"Yeah, but I also get the strongest impression not to push the subject right now. If he's as good as Mr. Erickson says he is, maybe we best just keep our mouths shut for now."

Nick nodded and turned away from the window. Keeping his mouth shut was not exactly one of his strengths. However, they had to have a wrangler. Heath was right. If this Buck Adam was as good as the café owner had said, Nick knew he'd best make himself do it. "Let's go finish breakfast, if it hasn't been taken away." Heath didn't argue and soon the two were sitting back at the table talking and eating their food.


	4. We Should Know Him

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Four**

It was almost four in the afternoon before Buck saw his old home come into view. He pulled on the reins in his hands and stopped the wagon that he and Jessie were traveling in. He had a range of emotions running through his veins…sorrow of lost years and the slight fear that too much time had passed.

In fact, he might have turned the wagon around and left, except Jessie had slid her hand into his, and mouthed "You'll be fine; we'll be fine."

After taking a few more minutes to calm his shaking nerves, Buck lifted the reins and lowered them just hard enough to get the horses moving again.

As the couple drew near the ranch Buck could see McCall and other men walking away from the corral. Again, he held his emotions in check. McCall had always been a great foreman and good friend. In fact, the man had been the only other one besides Heath to back the youngest Barkley up when it came to working on the ranch. Buck couldn't help but chuckle, of course, this made his wife curious.

"What's so funny?" Jessie turned her gaze away from the grand mansion her husband had so often talked about; that is, once he'd broken down and told her everything…which was only weeks before he'd confessed everything to her father.

"Our foreman, I wonder if he'd have backed me up if he'd known what I did on the side before the night that I left. That's when he really found everything out." He answered.

Jessie looked at him; the confusion she felt was in her eyes. Her husband had told her all that had happened before he left and what had happened the night he left. She asked; her confusion could be heard in her voice also, "I understand your family wasn't hearing you out, but why wasn't McCall able to?" Because she'd been told the man had backed her husband, Jessie had assumed the foreman had been told everything from the beginning.

"I tried a couple of times, but Nick, even Jarrod, seemed to have the knack of walking in on the conversation and then all I got, basically, was more lecturing and asking if I was packed and ready to go back to Berkley." Buck answered in disgust and then shook his head. "When McCall caught me by the fence that night? That was the first time no one was around to interrupt us."

Jessie would have made a reply, but her husband's eyes had turned hard as they stopped in front of the gate that stood next to the corral. A well dressed gentleman stepped out of the house and, upon seeing the couple, hurried over to the gate. Because she felt her husband stiffen slightly, Jessie instinctively knew the man must be Jarrod, Buck's oldest brother.

Because of Heath's telegram, Jarrod knew what the man who was arriving was their new wrangler. However, he was not prepared to have the same feeling Nick and Heath had had once he opened the gate and the couple drove through the opening and into the yard. _"Heath said you were a wrangler from Wyoming. I've never been up that way, so where do I know you from?"_ Jarrod thought the words, but kept them to himself. Nick and Heath had also mentioned that the young man had a past that neither he nor his wife wanted discussed. Perhaps that was how they once met. He may have had dealings with their families. However, he found that hard to believe, as his brothers had repeated what the café owner had told them; that there were no wanted posters or anything illegal in the Mr. Adam's past. Jarrod kept his musings to himself. Besides, if the man was going to be breaking in their horses, he'd have time to remember. At least, he hoped he would.

"Mr. and Mrs. Adams?" Jarrod smiled as he asked the question.

"Yes, sir." Buck, who had again put on the mask he'd been practicing wearing, answered as he climbed down and then helped Jessie down.

Jarrod, who had to fight to keep the surprise of hearing such a raspy, odd sounding voice come out of a man so young, held out his hand and again smiled. "Name's Jarrod Barkley, welcome, McCall and the boys are expecting you." He then smiled at Jessie, "Mother's prepared a room for the two of you, until we can get the roof fixed on the house you'll be using." He went on to explain the family had thought the repairs on the roof had been completed months ago, only to find out one of their former employees had snuck into the home and had been using it the whole time. Unfortunately, he'd done some damage to it before being caught and run off the place.

Buck took the offered hand and forced himself to keep a smile upon his face, disguising the panic he felt; knowing he would be living too close to the family until the house was finished. The old resentment towards his family for not listening reared its head. It didn't stay up though, as Buck quickly pushed it aside. He had to, if he was to find out if things had changed at all and he _had_ to find out.

Jarrod let go of Buck's hand and pointed towards the stable and to McCall, who was standing by the corner of the building. "There's McCall. He's been expecting you too. I'll take your luggage in. Mrs. Adams is more than welcome to come inside."

"Thank you, Mr. Barkley." Buck gave his wife a quick peck on his cheek and headed for McCall, but not before Jarrod, in a kind and casual reprimand, asked telling him to simply call him, Jarrod.

While her husband talked with the Barkley's long time foreman, Jessie followed Jarrod, who continued to glance in the direction her husband had gone. She couldn't help but wonder if it wouldn't take long before her husband was being asked to explain himself or maybe more like hearing the demand for an explanation; that is, unless something happened to prolong it. Soon she found herself standing inside the gorgeous home looking at; actually, more like looking up at Mrs. Barkley. "This is Mrs. Adams." Jarrod smiled at his mother as he waved his hand slightly towards Jessie. "Her husband is the one Heath and Nick wired us about." He then introduced his mother to Jessie.

Victoria's smile covered her face as she offered her hand to the young woman. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Adams."

Jessie, who never really cared for formal titles used when it came to her, smiled politely as she shook Victoria's hand. "Name's Jessie, if ya don't mind, Mrs. Barkley, and I'd wait awhile before you said it was nice to meet me. I have been known to be a might outspoken and more than a bit stubborn at times."

Victoria chuckled; she admired the young woman's bluntness and tenacity. At least no one would have to wonder what the woman was "really thinking". "So, be it. If I am to call you Jessie, you should call me Victoria. I'll show you where your room will be." It was an offer Jessie readily accepted, as she was more than ready to lie down and rest for a bit. After the young woman was settled in, Victoria returned to the living room, found her way to the window and spoke up. She was watching McCall and some of the boys talking with the gentleman she assumed was Buck Adams. However, they were not close enough for her to get a close look at Buck. When she spoke, Jarrod felt small shock waves go through him.

"We should know him." She was speaking soft as she gazed upon the man her sons had hired the best she could. The feeling she knew who he was, it was so strong she had her hands resting on the window sill. No, more like holding onto them very tightly. It made her want to get a closer look at him. If it weren't for the fact that she had pressing commitments, and the gentleman was trying to acquainted with the other workers, she would have marched outside right then and there.

"I know." Jarrod walked up beside his mother and admitted that his first impressions were the same. The more he thought on it, the more confused he became. He knew sometimes a person would see something, or someone, they should know. However, due to looking too hard for the answers, they'd get stuck on the questions. If they were to get the answers, they had to find a way to get unstuck. At least his mother's comment gave him one answer he did get; he wasn't the only Barkley that had this feeling. It also laid to rest his earlier musings about whether he had met the man or his family through any of his legal work and associations. If his mother had the same feeling, then Jarrod was sure it wasn't just through his work that he knew Buck Adams. Jarrod shrugged his shoulders and said, "Maybe it's just that we know a relative of his."

"Maybe," Victoria answered quietly as she and Jarrod watched the young man as the other hands got one of the horses ready and he swung up into the saddle. Victoria would have stayed at watched the gentleman, like Jarrod chose to do, but she had to get going and she knew it.


	5. McCall's Flashback, A Family Discussion

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Five**

McCall, who had watched Buck Adams break a horse in, now stood in the foreman's room of the bunkhouse, and leaned against the window. Buck could be seen talking to some of the men after breaking in the last of the horses the men had given him. Nick, who had arrived home with Heath shortly after Mr. Adams, had told the man to wait until the next day before breaking in anymore.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the moment Buck had mounted the first horse and begun breaking it in, McCall had had a flashback from four years ago play itself over again for the long time foreman, one only he knew about. That being the case, he'd seen through all the additional hair and gotten around the raspy voice and the few words that had been added to Buck's vocabulary. Now he stood looking at "Buck" and replaying the memory over in his mind once more.

_It was midnight and the full moon, along with the myriad of stars, was shining every bit of its light down upon the corral containing the last of the horses that needed breaking in; 'Nightmare', the name the horse had been given by the hands, along with the Barkleys. McCall had been unable to sleep and was standing next to his window. Just as he turned to go back to bed he saw him; Eugene had walked up to the corral and was standing next to the fence. McCall had left his room, walked quietly through the main part of the bunkhouse, and slipped out the door. _

_ "He's a fine animal. I hope they can break him in or they'll have to have him gelded." McCall had spoken the words expecting nothing to happen that night. However, he took a step back when Eugene turned and looked at him._

_ "Help me saddle him." The look of determination upon the young Barkley's face, along with something that said 'Don't you dare argue with me' grabbed a hold of McCall and, after a few silent moments, he did as Eugene asked._

_ "Your mother will kill me if anything happens to you. You've never broken in a horse before." Again, McCall found himself receiving another shock._

_ Eugene's eyes darkened and he answered, dragging each word out slowly and biting them off sharply, "Who says?"_

_ McCall had then been stunned beyond measure as Eugene mounted the horse and handled the horse like a professional. He was mesmerized by every movement the young man made as the horse did everything in its power to throw his rider. The boy __**had **__broken in horses before! _

_ Afterwards, McCall had watched Eugene saddle his own horse and failed to convince him to stay on the ranch. "Don't say a word about this, McCall. I beg you. I tried to tell the family, but they wouldn't listen. Well, no one but Heath and he only thinks I dream about breaking them in. He doesn't know I've been doing it for over a year now."_

_ "How am I supposed to explain that?" McCall had turned and pointed to the now broken in horse and asked._

_ "You don't." Eugene swung up in the saddle and looked down at the foreman. "You don't say a word." He paused, his eyes begged the foreman to take him seriously once more, "It's calling me McCall, and nobody's listening. Well, Heath is, but even he can't get through to the family." He paused and then added quietly, "Don't tell them you saw me tonight; don't ever tell them anything. Promise me." The mixture of pain and disgust could be heard in his voice and unhappy eyes._

_ When he thought of what the family would go through when they got up in the morning, McCall's heart broke, but Eugene was a good man. He, McCall, had seen firsthand that Eugene Barkley did indeed belong on the back of a horse. Because no one had listened to Heath or him when they spoke up in defense of "the boy", McCall had given his word even if it didn't sit well with him. The "boy" was a man and, just like the rest of the Barkleys, was a determined one. McCall was confident in the boys abilities and that he'd be pretty safe…he just hoped that he wouldn't stay away too long. The next morning a mother, three brothers and a sister were faced with life without Eugene, and only one man on the ranch knew why "Nightmare" was no longer a problem._

"Eugene," McCall spoke low and shook his head. "It's been four years! Why didn't you come back sooner? For that matter, why come back at all if you aren't going to tell them who you really are?" He sighed and turned away from the window. He couldn't help but wonder why the Barkleys hadn't seen through the young man yet. He would have headed straight for the house and talked to the family, but he felt like he needed to talk to the youngest Barkley first…and that man was busy at the moment.

While McCall was reminiscing about the past and figuring out when and how to talk to "Buck" in private, the Barkleys had gathered in the living room and were discussing their newest employee, who had asked Heath if he and his wife could simply live in the guest house and do the repairs themselves. It was a request that had been granted, only after the couple had promised to eat supper with the family in a few days. That being the case, Buck had yet to step inside the Barkley home.

"I didn't say he wasn't good!" Nick snapped at Jarrod who had questions Nick's opinion of their newest hand. "I said something's off when all of us feel like we should know him, yet none of us do, or can remember, how!" He paused and then added, "Well, everyone but Audra, and she hasn't had a chance to meet him yet. Ten to one, if she and Mark come for a visit, she reacts the same way as us!" Audra had recently married and moved away.

"He hasn't done anythin' to give us cause to worry or to think he'll cause us problems." Heath spoke up as he rubbed the palm of his right hand with his left. "Neither has his wife. Why worry about them unless one of them starts trouble?" He couldn't see the sense of worrying when they hadn't had even the tiniest sign of the couple giving them a headache.

"Heath's right!" declared Victoria, who had come back into the living room, looked at her middle son. "While I would like to have some answers," and she did, "there is no sense in allowing ourselves to be on edge, when they have given us any cause to worry. If you asked me they seem like very good young people. I'm impressed with Jessie. While, I don't have the same feelings, ones that say I should know her, I do feel connected. She reminds me a little of myself at that age. Tough, outspoken, proud, and committed to her husband enough to follow him where his work will take him and make a good life of it."

Victoria stood up and excused herself. She said she had had to go up to the attic since Mrs. Hepworth would be arriving soon for the donations promised and she needed to check a few things before that happened. It was the truth; however, it also provided her the much needed time alone; time to work out her own troubled instinctive feelings. Ones that had screamed that she and the family knew the young man the moment she'd seen him though the window. The young man that she would have had a chat with before now, but one thing after another had pulled her from taking that action; like Mrs. Hepworth. It was more than annoying, because Victoria had been on her way out to meet this Buck Adams when she got word Mrs. Hepworth had changed the time she'd be picking things up. It was as if some invisible hand was doing all it could to keep her from speaking to the young man, and that had her wondering all the more how she knew him.

"Well," Jarrod stood up as the smell of delicious food Silas had started cooking filled the house, "I might as well hurry and get a few things done in my study before supper. Nick," he gave his brother one of his pappy looks, "Please, don't go off half cocked and chase the Adams away. Buck Adams is the best wrangler I've ever seen in a long time." Though he, like Victoria, was only using the work as an excuse to go someplace quiet, someplace where he could hopefully relax and go through his own memories.

Nick grunted, nodded and stepped away from the fireplace. "I won't. I can't afford too. We need those horses all broke in within the next two weeks." He then headed up to his room to wash up before supper; Heath remained seated staring into the empty fireplace, still rubbing the palm of his right hand and thinking.


	6. Memories and a Talk With Jessie

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Six**

Buck opened the door to the home he and Jessie were sharing. After hours of either breaking a horse or walking around with one memory after another rushing by, he had been left him both physically and emotionally exhausted. More than once he'd come close to walking up to Heath or Nick and asking them if he could talk with them, more than once he'd headed to the house to talk with his mother, and more than once he'd back out of doing it. He kept seeing the fight between Nick and himself, the last part had remained crystal clear over the past four years. All that, along with the fact that McCall had seemed to be trying to get him by himself all day, was weighing heavily on his mind. Sitting down on the couch that sat next to the south wall and next to the door, which he had left open, Buck threw his hat on the coffee table in front of the couch and began taking his boots off. Once he had them off, he leaned back and closed his eyes. Once again that last scene appeared before him.

_"Give me a chance, Nick! I belong on a ranch, on a horse, not in some classroom or a doctor's office, any kind of doctor!" Gene stood up and took a step back after being knocked down by his older brother, something he'd done more than once. Not that Nick hadn't taken his licks also…one could see that by looking at the blood trickling out of his bottom lip. _

_ Nick shook his head and growled, "You started something, you finish it! Jarrod talked to Berkley; they said you can come back. I don't know why we're out here fightin'; you should be up in your room packin'! Jarrod's bought your train ticket! Now, get in there, pack your things and, so help me, don't come back until you finish what you started and have that diploma in your hand!" _

_ Gene, who knew Nick was only repeating what everyone but Heath had agreed he needed to hear, went to snap back and then shut his mouth as he felt an invisible blanket fall over him. Well, not really a blanket, but a feeling that seemed to cut the drive he'd had to convince his family that it wasn't his place to go to college and become a doctor. He loved them with all his heart, only he was tired; too tired to continue fighting them. _

_ Nick was stunned as a mixture of sadness and resignation appeared into Gene's eyes and watched him silently walked past him and into the house. He started after Gene, but stopped. _

_ Gene, who saw Nick start to move but stop, sighed and shut the house door behind him. The moment he knew everyone was in bed he had slipped out of his room with only a few items, broke in Nightmare. By morning he was crossing his first river, and he never turned back._

"You in there?" Jessie asked as she gently tapped her husband's forehead. "Or have you left and gone on vacation?" She smiled and chuckled as she said the words.

Buck opened his eyes and smiled back, though his smile was a weary one. Because of a talk they'd had before he'd gotten up to go to work, Jessie knew of his plans to talk to at least one of his brothers or his mother. She might have asked how it went only the weary smile and the look of helplessness that shown in his eyes told Jessie he hadn't gotten that far. She sat down and lifted his legs, so she could rest them on her lap while she took off his socks and rubbed his feet. Jessie asked softly, "You didn't talk to them, did you?"

Buck, who had laid down upon the couch and rested his head on a pillow, shook his head back and forth while covering his eyes with his right arm. "I tried, really I did. Then," he let out a slow breath as he did his best to get rid of the tension inside of him, "I see it all over again. They're refusal to listen to me, refusal to accept the fact that I belong on a ranch and their insistence that I go back to college to finish what, as they said, _I _started." He removed his arm off his eyes and sat up on his elbows. "I didn't start it! They did!" Buck's anger, the anger he'd suppressed for days, spilled out. "It was mother's dream, my brothers' and sister's dream. It was never really my dream, not really." He lay back down and stared up at the ceiling he'd finished repairing the night before and quietly added, "I wonder if I'd told them from the start if it would have made any difference."

Jessie, who had finished with her husband's feet, laid them down on the couch after she'd stood up. "They'll recognize you sooner or later, especially your mother. She's tiring of the way life keeps putting things in her way of talking to you. I know that because she told me so when I stopped by to return a few items I borrowed." Jessie rubbed her forehead. "I can't say I blame her either." She walked across the living room and into the kitchen; there was no barrier between the two rooms. "Wouldn't it be better to be the first to approach the subject?" She hated the idea of what might happen if the Barkley's found out first. "Besides," she said as she turned around, leaned against the table and looked at Buck, who had sat up and was leaning against the back of the couch, "what about your promise to my father?"

Buck stood up and walked over to his wife. Sliding his arms around her waist, he pulled her to him. "I always keep my promises." He ran his hand through her hair and down the back of her head; her head was resting against his chest. "I'm just having a difficult time keepin' this one. What if they still can't accept me for what I am? What if Nick and the others still expect me to be, or become, a doctor?" He didn't know if he could handle their rejection a second time.

Silence hung in the air for a good four or five minutes before Jessie pulled back and lifted her hands to her husband's face. She felt so bad for her husband. Out of all the reasons she'd come up with for not telling his family, fear of rejection had been on the top of her list. Now, since she knew she'd been right. She also knew her husband needed her support more than ever. "Talk to them, or at least talk to somebody. Waitin' until they recognize you? I can't see that helping." Though, even as she said the words, she knew the chances of that happening…his family recognizing him... were extremely high. She ran her fingers down the side of his face. "Father was right. These ghosts have to be laid to rest." She stood on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss and then asked, as she pulled back, "I have supper ready. You hungry?"

Buck growled low as he picked her up and answered, "Yea, but supper and ghosts can wait; I think I'll take dessert first."

Jessie playfully "fought" him, but it only served to get the two of them behind closed doors even faster. Good thing she knew how to warm up cold food.


	7. A Talk With McCall and Jarrod's Tears

Wyoming Wrangler

Chapter Seven

Buck was fixing a part of the corral nearest the house when McCall walked up. Hearing the footsteps, Buck lifted his head up; seeing the serious look on the foreman's face had him straightening up and preparing for the worst. "May I help you?" He asked as McCall did nothing but look at him. It made Buck uneasy until he realized the truth, realized just why the foreman had been trying to corner him for the past few days. "You know who I am?" He asked as he went back to pounding on the corral.

"I do." McCall leaned against the fence. "Is the raspy voice as fake as the accent?"

"Neither one is faked." Buck shook his head and explained what had happened. "I'm just glad I still have a voice and," he said as he sighed and looked towards the house, "maybe, for the time it seems to be buying me time." He then admitted to being afraid. "I've broken in more horses than I can count and here I stand afraid of my own family. Since they haven't confronted me, I'll assume you haven't talked to them."

"No, I haven't. I figured to leave that to you." McCall answered.

"Thanks," Buck sighed, "now tell me how to get past this fear."

McCall gave the youngest Barkley an understanding smile. He understood the man's fear of rejection…even seeing where he was justified in it. However, the foreman had watched and listened to everything and anything over the past four years, and he knew it had to stop. "They've worried about you, son. Jarrod even contacted the Pinkerton Agency when you didn't come back after a few months." McCall turned around and leaned against the fence, keeping his eyes on Buck the whole time. "We all thought it strange that the Pinkertons couldn't find you. Go by whichever name you want; Buck, Eugene, it doesn't matter. Just talk to them. I'm pretty sure they'll listen this time." McCall clapped his hand down on Buck's shoulder and gave him a gentle shake. "Good to have you home." He then turned and walked away, leaving the youngest Barkley to his work and to ponder upon the long time foreman's words.

The whole time McCall and Buck talked they were unaware they were being watched by Jarrod, who was standing in his room looking out the window. He had been looking for some decorations his mother wanted to use on the table during supper when they had the Adams over in a few days. The fact the McCall was talking to Buck didn't bother Jarrod; it was the way Buck was moving his hands when he wasn't using the hammer, the way he went from standing to leaning on the fence. Everything about the young wrangler, the wrangler that he'd had no opportunity to visit with due either his business or Buck's work, was screaming that he, Jarrod, knew him. It was that feeling that kept Jarrod standing by the window watching McCall and Buck.

_"There's a past he and his wife don't talk about."_ Out of the blue, the thought repeated itself to Jarrod. He didn't know how or why, only Jarrod somehow they were doing just that; talking about the man's past. Who a person chose to talk to about their past was their own business, so why did it upset him? Why did he find himself wanting to be the one Buck turned to? Jarrod asked the question to himself, but it felt like someone kicked his feet from under him when he the answer came nipping at his heals. A flashback from four years ago came to him, and Jarrod had to sit down on a nearby chair as the flashback played itself out in its entirety.

_"I told you! I don't want to go back! I don't belong in a classroom; I feel like I'm suffocating when I'm in one. Why can't the family just accept me for who and what I am! A man who loves horses, who belongs on top of one! It's not like I'm breaking the law!" Gene was standing in Jarrod's office while Jarrod sat behind his desk. Jarrod had been trying to "get the boy to see reason". It hadn't worked as his baby brother paced around the floor and told him, in the strongest tone he'd ever used, and for the hundredth time, he belonged on a ranch not in any kind of office. Gene had then walked to the office door, stopped, turned around and then asked Jarrod quietly, "How can this family accept others for who and what they are, but they cannot do the same for me?" He had left before Jarrod had time to answer. __  
_  
That picture, the one of Gene staring at him with questioning eyes filled with confusion and hurt did not fade away. If anything, it grew stronger and stronger until Jarrod finally opened his eyes and saw what had been staring at him all along. "No," Jarrod bent his head and covered his eyes with his hands as the morning of Gene's disappearance came to mind. The morning he'd awoke to find his baby brother gone.

_"Gene!" Jarrod knocked on his baby brother's door while holding entrance papers to Berkley, along with a train ticket in his other. "Come on, get up! You have a train to catch!" When no answer came, he opened the door to the bedroom and found the papers in his hand floating to the floor as he stared at one very empty room. When he saw a note on Gene's bed, Jarrod hurried over to pick it up. His heart stopped when he read what it said._

_I told you, I'm not going back to college. I'm not becoming a doctor. I belong on a horse; I belong on a ranch. Since I'm not allowed to come back until I finish school and have my degree in my hand, it will take a miracle to get me back here. __****_

_Gene __****_

_P.S. I'll never stop loving all of you. __**  
**_  
_Jarrod realized too late what a huge mistake had been made. Oh, not on Eugene's part, but on his and the family's part. If the family truly believed Gene was wrong, they should have let him find that out for himself. As the months and then years rolled on, he had had to deal with his own guilt; guilt that told him he and the rest of the family, except Heath, had pushed Eugene out of their lives. __  
_  
The flash back ended and Jarrod tried to wrap his mind around what his heart was now telling him. Once he got a hold of himself, Jarrod returned to the window and looked out. Buck was cleaning up his tools and heading for the corral. He'd only been helping out on a small job until it was time to start breaking some horses. Jarrod didn't know why but the man looked upwards, probably looking at something in the sky. With the memory of the flashback fresh in his mind, it was all Jarrod needed. In that moment, the moment Buck looked up, Jarrod knew without a shadow of a doubt Buck Adams and Eugene Barkley, his long lost brother, were one in the same. He hung his head and cried for his brother and four lost years.


	8. A Talk With Jarrod

Wyoming Wrangler

Chapter Eight

Jarrod rested his arm on the empty fireplace mantle. Staring straight ahead, his mind replayed one scene after another. The old guilt, which he thought had left, had returned with a vengeance.

With the memories weighing down on his mind, Jarrod sighed. He'd struggled for the past hour trying to decide what he should do. The family had the right to know that Buck Adams and Eugene Barkley was the same person. Then again, it was obvious Gene had been pushed to the point of changing so much that it had taken Jarrod quite some time to realize who was working for them. When a knock came at the door, Jarrod turned away from the fireplace and headed for the door. He felt like his jaw fell to the ground, though he opened not his mouth when he saw Gene on the other side of the door. He forced himself to smile, "Well, hello, Buck. I thought you were still working. May I help you?"

"I…" Buck swallowed hard and forced himself to speak. With no way out of going to the supper he and his wife were supposed to attend in a few days, he'd forced himself, with Jessie's encouragement, to keep his commitment of talking to one of his family members. With Nick and Heath both busy in town, he'd made his way to the big house. "I was hopin' to talk to ya."

Jarrod's heart beat fast as he stepped aside to allow his baby brother to enter. "Come on in."

Buck looked around and had to fight to keep his emotions in check as his wife's words from that morning rang in his ears once more. _"You can't keep this up!" Jessie stood in their living room giving him the lecture of his life time. We can't keep dodging their invitation to dine with them! Sooner or later, they're gonna recognize you. For that matter, I'm sure sooner or later your mother will be on this doorstep!" _Now, standing in the home he grew up, had him fighting to stay in control. Not easy, as the sight of the home he'd been raised in grabbed a hold of his heart and squeezed it as hard as it could.

If there had been any doubt in Jarrod's mind to who Buck was, it disappeared the moment he saw the look in Buck's eyes. He didn't know what this brother wanted, but he found himself saying, "I'm glad you came by. I've been trying to decide how to approach you without chasing you away again." The fear of doing so could be plainly heard in his voice.

Buck's eyes widened in astonishment as he stared at his "Pappy". "You knew who I was all along?" He wasn't sure what to think of that one.

"Not until a little while ago." Jarrod answered as he gave his brother a half smile, "Why didn't you say something? Why the raspy voice? Why the fake accent?" He asked the questions feeling quite foolish as he did so. After everything that had happened, he felt he pretty well already knew the answer. Still, he asked. He wasn't surprised by the look his brother gave him, one that asked "Are you kidding me?"

As with McCall, Buck let out a slow breath and answered, doing his best to keep control of himself, "Everything you see or hear is real; I've heard 'that' speech so much that I have often found myself speakin' the same way." He then explained about his past illness. It made Jarrod sick to think how his baby brother could have died and the family never would have known. "As far as not sayin' anythin', goes," he looked at his brother, "I tried. I tried a dozen times over." His eyes filled with pain, sorrow and, yes, even his anger shone through.

"But you were afraid of our reaction; afraid we'd be disappointed." Jarrod added, regret for past actions showed in his eyes as the two of them walked into the front room.

The look of regret was not lost on his younger brother, and Buck nodded as a bit of his anger disappeared. "Pretty much, truth be told." Buck sat down on a nearby chair as Jarrod made his way to the sofa. Both were feeling like they were walking on ice, afraid it would break any minute. "I wouldn't even be here right now…only Jessie didn't want to come to dinner and have to wonder if someone would recognize me while we were eating." He couldn't help but chuckle as he added, "I don't think she wanted to get a taste of Nick's temper mixed with my own during a time that is supposed to be for relaxing."

The chuckle and smiling eyes that had appeared for a few seconds disappeared as the old anxiety took their place. He thought on Nick and sighed. Jarrod wasn't blind or stupid; he knew full well what his baby brother was thinking. "You don't have to be afraid of Nick; you don't have to be afraid of any of us." Jarrod spoke, his eyes pled with his brother to believe him. "We were wrong and we all know it, Gene."

"Buck." Buck spoke the name sharper than he meant to. He stood back up and walked across the room to where the sherry sat. "The name is still Buck no matter what; think of it as yet another nickname. Mind if I pour myself a drink?" He looked over at Jarrod, not surprised to see the confusion in his brother's eyes. But what could he do? He couldn't change who and what he'd become. The Adams would be easy enough to drop, if he chose too, but 'Buck' had, for whatever reason, attached itself and it wasn't going anywhere. At least, not yet it wasn't.

"No, go ahead." Jarrod answered quietly, fighting to control his emotions. He couldn't help but wonder if the refusal to go let go of the name Buck was more of "safety net" for his brother. However, he wasn't going to debate the issue with Eugene at the moment.

Buck poured himself a drink and swallowed it down. He then turned around and told Jarrod about his small bout of amnesia and the fact that when his memories had returned he was already breaking in horses for Jessie's father. "When I left Wyoming," Buck put his hands on his hips and paused as he thought on his late father-in-law, "I thought I was comin' to Stockton simply to keep a promise to Jessie's father, one that I could prepare to keep while living and working in Stockton. I didn't know Mr. Erickson was gonna say anythin' nor did I know Nick was going to hire me without seeing through me. Though, the way he and Heath have been actin' I don't suppose that will last much longer." He shocked himself by the bitterness he allowed to drip out in each and every one of his words. He looked at Jarrod as if to say 'How long before you tell them'?

"I'll be surprised if I have to say a word to either of them." Jarrod answered the question in his brother's eyes before he could voice it. Jarrod recalled how Heath had commented just that morning he just knew that he'd seen Buck within the past five years and felt he was extremely close to remembering something. Then, knowing that a lot of wranglers moved from place to place to make their living, Jarrod fought to keep the fear he felt, fear that his brother would disappear once more, out of his voice as he said, "You don't have to leave once the horses are broke; I'm sure Nick will want you to stay on. He's seen how good you are."

Buck shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe." He could feel the air in the room begin to thicken, more than it was already. As much as he loved his brother the uneasy feeling between them was becoming a bit too much. "I have to go for now. Jessie and I will be by for supper on Thursday as promised." He lifted the empty glass up slightly and said before putting it down, "Let's just hope it doesn't wind up a catastrophe." He then turned, walked out of the room and out the front door.

When his brother left Jarrod could almost hear his father speaking to him, something that made Jarrod sit straight up. "_Make sure Nick knows to behave himself. Eugene, "Buck", doesn't need to be run off like he was last time."_ It was a thought that Jarrod couldn't deny agreeing with even if he wanted to. How could he? He knew it was the truth.


	9. Family Discussion

Wyoming Wrangler

Chapter Nine

Jarrod, his brothers and Victoria had gathered together at Jarrod's request. "So, what's so important that we need to meet before dinner?" Victoria asked once they were all in the room and the door shut. She had left Silas to prepare supper for not only them, but their guests; Buck Adam's and his wife Jessie, as well and was anxious to get back and give Silas a hand.

Jarrod leaned against the desk as his family gathered in the billard room. After telling his baby brother he probably wouldn't have to say anything, Jarrod had had second thoughts. After all, the fear the woman he knew now to be his sister-in-law voiced; the fear that an explosion could take place during supper was a very valid one. As he looked at his family, he wasn't surprised when another memory came to mind.

_"Listen to me, please. I wasn't kicked out school; I did nothing wrong. I left on my own!" Gene stood where Jarrod stood now, pleading for them to listen. "Don't ask me to go back. Heath understands. Why can't you?"_

It was a question that deserved an honest answer, and yet none of them had really given him a good reason. No, all Gene had gotten was flimsy excuses. Jarrod could see that now. No wonder the young lad had fled. "I talked to Gene the other day." Jarrod held onto the desk waiting for at least Nick to explode. He did.

"Where? When?" Nick, who had been truly remorseful the moment he realized his baby brother must have fled after their fight, turned and took a step towards Jarrod and demanded. "Why doesn't he come home? It's been four years. We all know he was in the right. Hell, if he wants, I won't fight him workin' on the ranch with Heath and me."

Heath shocked them all when he spoke up from where he stood and quietly said, "He already is, isn't he, Jarrod? I mean, Gene's already here and working for us." The minute Jarrod said he'd talked to Gene, Heath knew what was coming. Not just because the last piece was wigging itself into place, but for the mere reason that Heath knew Jarrod had not been to town that day and, as far as he knew, they'd had no visitors. That left only Buck for Jarrod to talk to, as all the other hands had been hired weeks ago.

"Wha…" Nick started to ask and then stopped as he eyes grew wide. Their mother's eyes did the same, only her hands flew to her mouth as well. "Buck Adams? Are you saying Buck Adams is Eugene?" Nick asked as he took a step backwards, almost as if someone pushed him back, and a look of complete disbelief spread across his face. How could that be? How could he not recognize his own brother?

Victoria, who was sitting down, still had to steady herself as Jarrod nodded slowly. She felt as if someone had just dumped a bucket of ice cold water on her. Heath, seeing his stepmother beginning to pale, hurried to her side. "Just when did this take place?" She demanded once she had recovered from the shock of hearing Jarrod's news.

"Early in the afternoon on Tuesday," Jarrod answered as he related to his family what had taken place in the living room when he'd opened the door to find Buck on the other side; he also told them exactly when he, Jarrod, recognized Eugene. "It seems Jessie's been urging him to come to us ever since they got here." He told them after finishing the two stories. "I can't say I blame him for hesitating; I might have done the same thing if I had been in his shoes. Though, I should warn you," Jarrod paused knowing what his brother's refusal to go by the name of Gene would do to his family, "no matter what, he says his name is still Buck. Can't say I blame him for that either."

A whirlwind might as well have blown through the room and knocked them all over for the way they all felt at hearing that bit of news. Though, it was Heath who spoke first. "Name don't change who he is."

Silence fell upon them after Heath made his statement. They all knew it was true. Eugene or Buck, it didn't matter; the name their brother went by wouldn't change the fact that he was a Barkley. "What are we supposed to do when he and Jessie get here?" Nick again exploded as he waved his arms through the air, walked towards the French doors and then stopped. "Act as if four years of wondering where he was, how he was, or if he was even alive never existed?"

Jarrod knew that, while his brother sounded angry, it was more than that. It was more than that to all of them. Simple truth was, they were all hurting because of what the choices they'd made in the past."Of course not," Jarrod answered as he folded his arms while continuing to lean against the desk in the room. "We simply let him know that we now understand why he left; apologize for not listening and do our best to have a pleasant visit and then," he shrugged his shoulders, "Accept the fact that he might or might not stay once 'his job' is done."

"Work around here is never done!" Nick barked, even if he knew what Jarrod was really saying. Truth was…he was flat out scared Eugene would walk out of their lives again. And, with him, Nick, just proposing to his gal, he wanted to think his baby brother would be around for the wedding…one that Caroline and Jarrod had insisted that he and Virginia share with them.

"We all know that," Heath gave Nick a small half smile and then grew serious, "Jarrod's right. Door works both ways; we can't force him ta stay anymore than you all had the right to try to force him back to college." Heath didn't say the last words with any condemnation in them; he was simply stating fact, and they knew it. Still, every one of them cringed just a little at Heath's unintentional rebuke.

Noticing the time, Victoria rose to her feet and excused herself. "Silas will have supper fixed in its entirety, if I don't go and help him." She looked at Nick and echoed Heath's sentiments. "Please, Nick, for all our sakes, especially Gene's, I mean Buck's, control yourself."

Nick simply nodded as his mother left the room leaving the three brothers each struggling with their emotion, each hoping the dinner would go well and Buck would see he still had a family and a home with them.


	10. Memories

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Ten**

Jessie sat next to her husband as he drove the surrey the Barkley's had let them use. Supper was at six o'clock, and they didn't want to be late. When Buck stopped and looked at an empty field, Jessie's curiosity was aroused. "What is it, dear? What are you remembering?"

"My father," Buck answered slowly with a look of great pain in his eyes, and then told her the story. _"Hold on son!" Tom yelled and began giving eight year old Eugene instructions when the horse he was on gotten spooked. The whole time Tom, who had been standing a good fifteen feet away, was running towards the horse. He was sure his son was going to be thrown off, but was amazed beyond measure when Eugene gathered the reins and had the horse under control by the time he reached him._

_"I broke him father." Eugene grinned from ear to ear. "He went wild, and I broke him."_

_Tom chuckled as he mounted his own horse, which was tied to a nearby tree, and looked at his son. "You handled that like an expert son."_

Buck turned to Jessie. "I might have spoken from the view of a child, only I still knew I wanted to be a wrangler when I grew up. I told my father too. He smiled and told me I could break in our horses when I got old enough if that's what I really wanted to do." He then started the surrey down the road once more.

Jessie was puzzled. "I don't understand. If your family knew you wanted to break horses that young, why did they push you so hard to go to college and become a doctor?" It didn't make sense to her.

Buck let out a half hearted laugh. "I said I told my father. I never said I told the rest of my family and…." he fell into silence as tears threatened to fall.

It didn't take a split second for Jessie to figure it why he'd paused and what he was going to say, as he'd told her of the trouble with the railroad and his father's murder. "Your father was killed shortly afterwards." Jessie laid her hand on her husband's arm.

"It wasn't until my last semester at Berkley did I finally admit it to myself that was still my dream. I mean, I knew it after I stopped grieving, but didn't _really _admit it until Berkley. I tried to tell my family, but…" he let out another half hearted chuckle. "You know the story. I don't know why I'm repeating it."

Jessie leaned against his arm and held on just bit tighter. "Because we're going to eat with your family; Jarrod knows who you are and, most likely, the others know it by now too. You're nervous; it's as simple as that. Don't worry though," she said as she smiled up at him, "Everything will be all right." Though he said nothing in response, Jessie could hear her husband exhale slowly. She had hit a nerve; she knew that, but what could she do? Somehow, she knew she spoke the truth. Now what could she do, but stand by her Wyoming wrangler?

While Jessie was doing her best to give her support to her husband, Victoria was arranging flowers on the table, she had picked just moments before. She couldn't believe the range of emotions that were running through her head. Why hadn't she taken time to do more than look through a window at her youngest? Why had she let things keep getting in the way? If she had made the time, she would have met him in person and recognized him. She didn't care about the extra facial hair she'd heard about or any of the other things. A mother would know her own child. Or was there a chance, deep down inside, she had known, but hadn't been able to see the forest for the trees? The moment the last thought entered her mind, Victoria had to close her eyes as another thought, a question, ran itself by her. Why is it, I would have recognize him physically, if I'd taken the time to go out and really meet him, and yet I failed to recognize who he really was? That is, where his heart really was.

_Victoria sat at the supper table looking at her youngest; her other children had all left to finish what little they had left to do before it was time to retire to bed. She couldn't understand why he was acting this way. He's "always wanted to be a doctor" and he had been doing great in school. Well, not "always", but ever since he was around ten. He'd put so much time into his school; she hated to see Gene just throw it all way. At least, she'd convinced herself it was his dream._

_"Son, if something has happened at school?" Victoria said as she laid her utensils down and tried once more to get through to her youngest, who was just as stubborn as the rest of her sons. "If there's a problem I can help you with, or maybe Jarrod…" she was shocked when Gene pushed back his chair, threw down his napkin, stood up and ran out of the room. Victoria quickly followed. By the time she reached her youngest, he was standing on the staircase._

"_Gene, we want to help…" she began only to have Gene glare at her and explode._

_"I keep telling you what the only thing wrong is; I don't belong in a classroom or doctor's office! I belong here, on this ranch! Why isn't anyone listening to me?" He whirled around and stormed up the stairs, leaving his mother to wonder still 'what was wrong'._

_"Mother?" Audra, who had heard Gene's shouting, wondered what was going on and stepped out of the kitchen, hurried through the dining room and made it to her mother. Gene was out of sight. Looking around, she asked Victoria, "What's wrong, mother?" _

_Victoria didn't answer for a moment, the look of someone trying to put an impossible puzzle together appeared in her eyes. "I don't know, but I have to find out." She turned and smiled at her only daughter, "But it will have to wait until the morning, before Jarrod takes Gene back to the train station. I have to finish that quilt I promised to give to Mrs. Anderson. Her baby is due any time now."_

Victoria came out of her thoughts as she stepped away from the table and looked at the decorations. She had to take a deep breath as the pain of waking up the next morning to find any chance of talking to Eugene had disappeared just like he had. "Oh Gene," she said softly, "why didn't I listen to you? Why didn't I see the real you? Why did I fail to see 'your' dream was really my own?" She might have said more, only the front door was opened just enough to allow any conversation to slip into the house…and Jarrod was welcoming Buck and Jessie, telling them he was glad they hadn't changed their minds.


	11. Dinner

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Eleven**

Jessie sat next to Buck and looked at each and every one of the Barkleys. She felt bad for all of them. In spite of the talk Jarrod had had with Buck, the gentleman still looked as if he was walking on thin ice. Nick looked as if someone had him on a witness stand and the only thing he wanted was off. Heath too looked rather uncomfortable, but Jessie was sure that was due more to the situation at hand than the past. After all, her husband spoke highly of the support this brother had given him. While Victoria did extremely well at hiding her nervousness, even she looked uncomfortable. Jessie sighed as she remembered the moments from seconds before.

_"Hello, Ge…I mean, Buck. Sorry," Jarrod held his hand out and shook Buck's hand while clasping the man's shoulder with the free hand. Jarrod wanted desperately to embrace his brother in one huge bear hug, only the man looked like he was ready to run as it was. Jarrod didn't want him to actually do it."The others are inside."_

_"Do they know?" Buck didn't mince words; he saw no reason to. He wanted to know from the beginning what the situation was._

_Jarrod nodded slowly and explained, hoping he'd chosen to do the right thing. "I hope it is okay." He looked from Buck to Jessie and then back to his brother. He was relieved to see Buck nod in the affirmative and Jessie smiling. _

_"It is more than okay." Jessie answered for her husband, as he seemed to be at loss for words. "Quite frankly, I wasn't looking forward to a dinner where I had to sit and wait 'for the inevitable'. After all, your mother's not blind." She, like Victoria, felt strongly the Barkley matriarch would have seen through everything within minutes…had she actually been in the same room as Buck before now._

_Jarrod had led them inside after that. Heath sat in the living room, but stood up the moment Buck and Jessie entered the house. He hurried and left the room to greet his long lost brother and his new sister-in-law. Unsure of exactly what to say, Heath simply smiled and said hello. He was shocked when Buck offered him an apology._

_"I wanted to thank you, Heath. After all, you were the one person that listened to me. That is, listened to what I had to say even if I didn't include the fact that I'd been wrangling for awhile bit in our conversations. For that, not telling you everything, I am sorry."_

_Heath gave him a lopsided smile and nodded. "It's okay this time."_

_Buck couldn't help but chuckle at the words "this time". If he asked, he was sure Heath would tell him those two words did indeed hold an unspoken message of some kind. He went to say something else only to have Nick appear at the top of the stairs. Instantly, the uneasy feeling in the room went from 3 up to 8. Nick wore an unreadable expression on his face as he started down the stairs. Buck stiffened and held his breath as the dark haired rancher made his way down to the bottom and stopped. _

_"Hello, Buck." Nick did his best to keep his emotions under control. He'd had time to do nothing but think and, at the moment, it didn't seem to have helped any. He was still as nervous as a raccoon treed by a fox. The old guilty feeling he thought he'd worked through had reared its head, and all he wanted was the dinner to be over with. Not that he wanted Buck to leave, he didn't. He just feared if he didn't keep in control of himself something would go wrong._

_"Hello, Nick." Buck wanted to add 'it's good to see you', but he didn't. Oh, he was glad, but he feared the sentence might earn him a lecture along the lines of 'if that's the case; why not speak up sooner?' Jarrod then led them into the dining room._

_Victoria took one look at her youngest and she knew she'd been right. The additional hair, plus the fact it was darker than it used to be, would not have made enough difference for her. For the hundredth time, she chastised herself for not going out and actually meeting him when he arrived. Without thinking, she embraced her youngest son. Out of respect for her as his mother, Buck returned the embrace, but could not hide the rather uncomfortable feeling that was definitely in the air. Soon they were all seated._

"So, you've been in Wyoming this whole time?" Heath broke the silence that had attached itself to the Barkleys once they'd seated themselves.

Buck shook his head. "I was in Nevada for a few months, broke some horses in for a Fred Jepson. Afterwards, his cousin, Jessie's father, visited and offered me a full time job on his ranch. He does nothing but deal with horses." Silence again hung in the air.

It made Jessie sad for the whole family. How she wished they were all little children again. That way they could just give each other something small trinket, say they were sorry and go on with their lives. As it was she spoke up and commented on the last couple of horses that needed broke in. "I think they're the best looking ones you have out there."

"We think so." Nick smiled. "That's why we kept workin' on catchin' them. It wasn't easy, but, as you can tell, we did it."

The conversation around the dinner table was kept light, as no one wanted their first dinner to be turned into any fight, big or small. Everything would have been fine except the subjects of their horses came up again and Nick, without thinking, made what would normally be a harmless statement.

"Too bad you didn't come back sooner." Nick's smile grew wide. "We had some other horses that make those horses look like common work horses." The moment he said the words Nick knew he'd made a mistake somehow. If he hadn't, why did Buck look like he was literally in pain all of a sudden?

The room grew instantly quiet due to that same fact, the pained look that had come into Buck's eyes. All wished the statement could be retracted, even if Nick hadn't meant any harm by it. "How could I come back?" Buck stiffened as he laid his utensils down, slid his chair back and stood up as he threw Nick a harsh glare, "I didn't have my degree in my hand!" He turned and stormed out of the room.

"I'm sorry." Jessie shifted in her chair and began to raise, only to be surprised by Nick.

"No, please. This is my fault." Nick stood up and looked at his family, "Let me talk to him. I promise…" He held up his hand when Jarrod began to protest, "I won't yell or throw any punches, not even tiny ones." He then turned and left the room knowing he had to do just that, not yell or throw punches, as he had some fences to mend…and fast.


	12. Fight

**Wyoming Wrangler**

** Chapter Twelve**

Nick, who had wasted no time, soon caught up with his baby brother. Buck was inside of the smaller corrals they had on the ranch, his back against the fence looking at nothing in particular. Having promised not to throw even the tiniest punch, Nick climbed the fence and leaned against it, but said nothing. All he did was wait for Buck to speak.

Buck wasn't deaf nor was he blind; he knew the moment Nick drew close by it was his older brother. He braced himself for the worst, but he was surprised when Nick did nothing but join him. A part of him was sorry for throwing 'those words' out and leaving supper the way he had, only he couldn't say he wanted to, or take what he'd said back either.

Nearby crickets sang their nightly songs, almost as if to do what they could to ease the loads both brothers carried. Finally Nick couldn't stand it any longer and turned to Buck, though he did manage to keep his voice low. "If you truly believed that the university degree, a piece of paper, still made a difference to us, to me, then why did you come back?" It was something he'd been dying to know ever since Jarrod had told him who Buck really was.

Buck let out a somewhat disgusted snort, though there was a bit of sorrow in it too. "I'd had a particularly rough day and, due to something my father-in-law said, found myself hauling off and hitting the man." He turned to see one shocked look on Nick's face. "The man seemed to know I needed to let it out something, and purposely came at me in order to keep the fight up. Afterwards," Buck shrugged his shoulders, "I broke down and told him everything." He stepped away from the fence. "He thought I should come back and see if things could be worked out. I mean, at least to see if reconciliation could be made."

"Jessie said her father died last year. Why did you wait so long?" Nick too stepped away from the fence. "I could have told you that stupid degree no longer mattered. All any of us wanted by that time was for you to come home. We'd worked things out by that time."

Buck knew his brother was doing a lot by following him and talking to him without raising his voice; he knew he meant well, yet hearing him say things like "any of us" "We'd worked…" hit a nerve and he turned on Nick and raised his voice. "That's exactly the problem, Nick! It's always been the problem!"

"What one earth are you talkin' 'bout, boy?" Nick was confused and he didn't like it. He was shocked when he didn't get a verbal answer until Buck had doubled up his fist and sent it flying across his, Nick's, face.

"I'm not a boy! I wasn't a boy then and I'm not a boy now!" Buck took a step towards Nick as his brother stood up. "It's always what you, the family wanted. No one ever asked me," He thrust his thumb into his own chest, "The degree, a piece a paper, it represented what all of you wanted from me…to live a dream that wasn't mine. It was something I was knew I could not give you and be true to myself." Gene stopped talking long enough to take a deep breath before he continued. "You all just assumed things and made plans, ones which I freely admit…I should have spoken up and told you were wrong. Only problem was," this time he poked Nick in the chest, "I was only 'the boy'. When I finally spoke up, no one listened but Heath!" He poked Nick again; this time it was too much and Nick took his fist and sent it flying. The punch knocked his baby brother off his feet and landed him on the ground.

"Didn't you hear me!" Nick snapped back and said, "I just told you we knew we were wrong!" He paused for a split second and then said, "Before I came out here, I said I'd behave myself. However," he growled as he lunged for his brother, "I never leave something unfinished when someone else starts it!" Soon the two brothers were having it out just as bad as the night they'd fought before Gene left, only this time physically, and to both men's surprise, both were equally matched in strength. Only when they were both too worn out to fight did they step away from each other.

Buck couldn't help but laugh as he looked at Nick all covered in dirt with blood running from his bottom lip. With his brother looking just as bad as him, Nick did the same. He wiped the blood from his lip and gave Buck a grin. "Looks like we're both still very hot tempered." He winked at his brother as he spoke.

Buck chuckled and wiped his own blood off his face. He would have liked to deny it only, after throwing the first punch; he didn't figure he'd get too far with that claim. "Yeah, guess so. I'm sorry too." He brushed the dirt of his shirt and pants. "I never should have started this fight."

Nick only laughed some more. "Why not? At least no one can blame me for starting it this time and, you have to admit, that is a change!" That statement had both brothers laughing hard. When Nick stopped laughing, he cleared his throat, looked at his baby brother and asked, referring to the fight that had just ended, "So, will you stay after that little incident?"

Buck turned away and walked back over to the fence. After leaning on it, he let his hands hang loose and answered quietly. "I don't know that I can, Nick. Four years ago I was willing to do both ranch work and break in horses, anything to work with you and Heath on the ranch." He had been too. He'd have done anything Nick had asked him to do….four years ago.

Nick leaned on the fence next to his brother. "I don't see what you're gettin' at. You've been doing both since you arrived home."

"Because it meant being near the family while I got up my nerve to talk to someone, I've done both. Listen Nick, I'm a wrangler. I break in horses. That's all I normally do. That's why Jessie's father hired me. All he dealt in was horses and he needed a regular wrangler. Of course, I naturally helped his neighbors on occasion as well. Besides," the man turned the palms of his hands upwards, "I'm not sure this ranch needs two hot tempered brothers around. We'd have the place busted up before anyone around here knew what happened!" The last sentence had Buck grinning from ear to ear.

Nick laughed long and loud, and then grew serious as he laid his hand upon his brother's shoulder and looked with earnest into his eyes. "Just promise me to think about. None of us want you to leave, really. This is your home just as much it is ours; it always was."

Buck nodded as he and Nick embraced. "All right, Nick, I promise." He might as well. If he didn't at least seriously consider it, he knew Jessie would have his hide. He didn't care what anyone said bout his wife's size…she was dynamite in a small package. He didn't want to have to deal with her justifiable anger. On top of all that, he knew he owed it to himself and to his family.


	13. It's Your Choice

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Thirteen**

The moonbeams drifted downwards and then filtered through the window. Buck lay in bed wide awake with Jessie snuggled in the crook of his arm, her arm lying across his bare chest. Smiling in her sleep, she looked such an angel that Buck couldn't resist giving her a small kiss on the forehead and running his fingers through her hair. He sighed as he rested his hand on her left shoulder and thought about the conversation they'd had once they'd arrived home after the dinner they'd shared with his family. A dinner that turned out quite nice once Nick and he cleaned up and rejoined the family.

_"It's up to you, dear. I've answered that before; this is one decision I'm not going to say a word on. I'm fine with whatever you decide." Jessie scolded him gently after being asked for the umpteenth time what she thought they should do. "Look," she'd said as she slid her hands over his chest and then slid them underneath his arms, clasping her hands together once they were behind his back. "My main concern is for you to be happy. If that's working for and with your brothers' fine, I can live with it." __Buck might have let it go and made a decision only he knew his wife to know she was leaving something unsaid. He wasn't going down that road again, the one of no real communication. That way had earned him and his family too many years of separation. "But?" __Jessie tilted her head backwards, shrugged and looked into his eyes. She knew he was torn and her heart ached for him. "I just hate to see you give up your dream of having your own place is all. That is," she shrugged her shoulders, "unless those dreams we once talked about have changed. And so help me," she told him as she pulled one arm out from behind his back and shook her finger at him, "If they have, you'd better speak up." __  
_  
While he had courted Jessie, Buck had talked about starting his own horse ranch. He had told her it didn't matter how big the place was, just so long as he had one. Of course, at that time, he was thinking to buy a small parcel of land from his father-in-law. That deal had fallen through when the man died before he could sign any papers, and Jessie's brother had taken over the ranch.  
Still, there was other land he could buy; his brother-in-law had offered to help him secure land that connected onto their current ranch. When he let out a sigh louder than he meant to, Jessie opened her eyes and pulled back slightly. "You're going to make yourself sick if you don't relax." It might have been a stupid observation in some people's eyes, but Jessie didn't care. She seldom cared what other people thought about the things she said. As long as she wasn't being mean or cruel, she couldn't see where it was anyone else's business.

"I have tried." Buck answered as he ran his hands down her face. "Only I bounce from one choice to another. I just can't think straight right now." He hated it when he got like that, too tensed up to think that is. He might have continued deep in thought and all stressed out, except Jessie started nibbling on his ear.

"Jessie!" Buck laughed as his wife tickled him in the one spot he was ticklish, right under his arm. "I'm trying to decide what to do!"

"No, you're stressing out and getting nowhere fast. I think you need some distraction for awhile." She smiled as she started to run her hand down the front of his chest while she went back to nibbling on his ear. Buck stiffened as he felt a fire begin to burn within him, one that Jessie had become an expert at igniting inside of him. He knew he'd have to make a decision sooner or later, but for the moment that choice was put on the back burner. He rolled on his side and buried his face into his wife's neck.

While Buck and Jessie lost themselves in each other, Audra was standing on the Verandah looking up at the stars. Her unexpected visit home had very much turned out to be a much wanted surprise. When she heard footsteps behind her, ones she recognized as belonging to her mother, she fought to keep her tears in check. "Do you think they'll stay?" She wanted them too. She'd missed Gene so badly. While she didn't care for the name he went by now, it didn't matter enough to fuss about. She'd call him anything he wanted to if he'd only stay and continue working with Nick and Heath after the horses were broke.

Victoria looked at her daughter and let a soft, somewhat sad, chuckle as she began answering, though it didn't sound like it to Audra. In fact, the young woman thought her mother was changing subjects at first. "I've been looking back over Gene's life. Up until your father was killed, that brother of yours wanted to do nothing but hang around horses, then afterwards," she said as she massaged the back of her neck, "that's when the dream of being a doctor began. That is, when the dream for me began. I had myself convinced it was his dream too, as he seemed to embrace the idea. I can see now all he was doing was trying to cope with your father's death by appeasing me. When he was through grieving, I remember how he tried to go back to the horses, but…" her voice broke as a twinge of old guilt found its way to the surface.

"But you, Nick and Jarrod couldn't see it and I, being so young, didn't realize the horses hadn't been a passing fancy." Audra quietly finished the sentence for her mother.

"Yes," Victoria gave her daughter a small smile as she leaned against the trellis. Though the smile left as she admitted what she'd been thinking all evening. "From what I saw in his eyes, I don't think Gene would be truly happy if he's not working strictly with horses."

She wasn't surprised when Audra let out a gasp and shouted! "We can't let him leave! We just got him back!"

Victoria turned around and walked back to the French doors and then stopped, turning her head just enough to see her daughter. "It's like Heath said, door works both ways, and it's not up to us to choose which way Gene pushes it. Now, your husband has the buggy all hitched up ready to drive you home." Then due to the fact they had never talked about Gene, the subject being so painful, she added, "I'm sure Mark has a lot of questions he may want answered as far as Eugene goes." Victoria disappeared into the house.


	14. Decision and News

**Wyoming Wrangler **

**Chapter Fourteen**

Jarrod was just heading up the stairs when a knock came on the door. He looked at his pocket watch. It was almost eight o'clock at night; pretty late for any guests to show up at the house. He turned around and went to answer the door. He was surprised to see his baby brother on the other side. "Since when do you have to knock?" he asked as Buck walked through the doorway.

"Since I live in another house," Buck answered as he threw a smile Jarrod's way, "I know it's getting late, but I wanted to talk to you before I head home. That is, if you have the time."

Jarrod gave him one of the "Pappy" stares that he was famous for and chastised his brother. "I always have time for any member of this family." Then, with his mother moving around upstairs and his other brothers due in any time, Jarrod nodded in the direction of the study, "Let's go into the study where we can talk privately."

That was more than fine with Buck. He didn't want his plans discussed out in the open quite yet, not knowing whether they would work out or not. Once inside the study, Jarrod sat down while his brother began talking. "I was hoping to get you to do me a small favor." Okay, he didn't know just how small or big the favor was…only it didn't include borrowing any of the family's money.

Jarrod leaned back in his chair and smiled. "If I can, what is it that you need?"

"I have heard of land, plenty of it, that is supposed to be available. In fact they joke there's enough land to start a town. The land is roughly twenty-five miles north, well northeast, of Stockton. Would you check into it? See if it's really for sale and how much? I have a bit of money that I've been saving up. I want to start my own horse ranch and," he shrugged his shoulders, "I don't really want to go back to Wyoming to do it."

Jarrod started beaming at the news. While it would have been nice to have his brother decide to stay on with Nick and Heath, twenty five miles from Stockton was only a day's journey compared to the distance up to Wyoming. No, those twenty-five miles were nothing compared to what they could be. Daily visits might not be an option, but frequent ones would be. "I'd be more than happy to help you, Buck."

Because Jarrod involuntarily paused when he said Buck, his brother could see it still bothered Jarrod when he called him by that name. At that moment, he realized how crazy it was to expect his family to call him by one name when they'd called him another one for close to twenty years. "You and the others can call Gene just," he chuckled as he added, "don't ask Jessie and my Wyoming friends to to do it. I was Buck when they met me, and I'll always be Buck to them." He then stood up and nodded, "Yeah, go ahead and look into it. Now, if you don't mind, I need to get home. Jessie's been awfully moody lately, and the last thing I want it is to give her just cause to read me the riot act by arriving home later than I told her I'd be."

Jarrod smiled wide. In the short time Gene had been home with his wife he'd learned that the woman called Jessie Adams was not one to mess with. "Gene it is! Tell Jessie hello for us, please."

"Sure thing," Gene threw on his hat and walked out the door and out of the house. He just knew he and Jessie would soon have their own horse ranch, and it wouldn't be all that far away from his family. Jarrod was right behind him.

Victoria had just stepped out of the upstairs hall when the front door shut. "Who was that?" She asked her oldest as she walked down the stairs.

"Gene." Jarrod answered. He wasn't surprised by the look of surprise that appeared on Victoria's face. Not only hearing that her youngest had stopped by and not talked to her, but also to hear something besides Buck come out of Jarrod's mouth. "He said we could call him Gene." He told her before she could ask him and then explained what Gene had said about Jessie and his name.

Victoria chuckled and told Jarrod a woman had the right to call her husband whatever name she wanted. She also asked him what was so important that Gene had showed up at 'this time of night' only to leave without saying hello.

Jarrod explained everything, which had Victoria smiling from ear to ear. Though, he wondered at the surprised, yet pleased, look that quickly made its way onto her face when he told her what Gene and said about Jessie and the fact that she was moodier than usual. "What are you thinking, lovely lady?" He asked with a questioning looked in his eyes.

"Uh uh," Victoria stood up, still grinning, and walked towards the stairs. "Not my place to speculate; well, not out loud that is. That would be plain gossip and that stuff; gossip that is, does nobody any good. Never has, never will." No, all she could was hope and pray her intuition was right.

His mother's reaction got Jarrod to thinking. It didn't take him but a split second to catch on and sit straight up. The more he thought on the unspoken guess, he couldn't help but grin wider.

While Victoria and Jarrod were speculating, Jessie was giving her husband the facts after he'd told her about his visit to Jarrod. She had to laugh as his mouth dropped open as he plopped down into "his" chair in the living room. "A baby?" He looked at Jessie's very flat stomach and then back up at her face. "Are you sure? How?" The moment the last question was out of his mouth, he went ten shades of red. He was sure Jessie would 'take it and run with it'; she did.

"Well, Buck," Jessie laughed as she answered his last question, "If you don't know what causes a baby by now, you never will." Her eyes were laughing as she answered the question that was just too good to pass up.

Her smart remark and laughing eyes were enough to snap Gene out of it. He jumped to his feet, wrapped his arm around her waist and swung her around in a circle. "A baby! We're going to have a horse ranch and a baby!"

_"Go figure! He mentions the ranch before the baby! Men!" _Jessie thought but said nothing. Why should she? She probably would have thought he was unwell if he'd said anything else.


	15. Epilogue

**Wyoming Wrangler**

**Chapter Fifteen (EPILOGUE)**

Jessie sat in the parlor of the home her husband and his brothers had built for them. It had taken a few months, but the happy couple had been able to move into their new house in a relatively short amount of time. It held three bedrooms, a dining room, kitchen room, parlor and living room. Gene said that more rooms might be added later on, depending on how many children they were blessed with.

Victoria sat beside her, along with Audra and Victoria's soon to be daughter-in- laws, Camille and Virginia; they were all visiting and looking at the numerous pictures of family members all hung on the walls. They were also looking through Jessie's wedding pictures, happily chatting about the preparations for the double Barkley wedding that would soon be upon them.

"That is a beautiful dress." Camille said as she admired the picture.

Virginia took the picture at looked closely at the exquisite gown. Its mass of white crushed silk in dress, bordered by delicate satin trims shone and stood out, contrasting amongst numerous small roses. Roses of different tones; Virginia guessed a variety of soft pinks and burgundy's trimmed the scooped neckline. Then three vertical rows like vines fell down the front the gown's skirt. Both the puffed sleeves and the large ruffled bustle at the back were also dotted with the smaller roses'. Knowing how well Jessie sewed, Virginia asked, "Did you make that?"

"Good heavens, no. I couldn't make anything that fancy. The dress belonged to my grandmother; she was living back east when she got married. It fit me so well that she insisted I go ahead and wear it. Though," Jessie, who was holding her and Gene's newborn son, smiled at the precious face of the boy she'd given birth to the month before and chuckled, "I don't think I would fit into it at the moment." That brought laughter from all the women, especially Audra, who had just recently found out she was finally expecting a child hoped the child would arrive without any complications and healthy.

"I don't know a woman alive that could fit into their wedding dress while she's either carrying a child or just given birth to one." Victoria smiled at Eugene William Barkley as she spoke to Jessie, once she quit laughing. She then grew serious. "I want to thank you."

The instant confusion Jessie felt could be seen in her questioning eyes and heard in the quizzical sound of her voice as she asked, "For what?" She couldn't think of one thing that she had done recently, or in the past, that she had done that would warrant such a heartfelt thank you from Victoria.

"Gene told me that he came extremely close to not making the promise he did to your father. He said he honestly thought he wouldn't be welcomed back in our lives if he didn't give up breaking horses, go back to college and become a doctor of some kind, but that you gave him a gentle push to do so. Though, I have to say, I never thought I'd have a son with a *****town named after him." The fact that, once peace had been made in between Gene and his family, the young man had shaved off his beard, mustache and cut his hair had not hurt Victoria's feelings any either.

Jessie chuckled as she thought on how that one had come about. While securing a portion of the land, her husband had run into one of his old friends, another small time rancher by the name of James Eugene Miller. After lengthy talks, Mr. Miller had secured the rest of the land and together the two men had founded the town. Seeing how they both shared a common name, it had been easy enough to come up with a name for the town, even if it was an unincorporated one.

The women all turned their heads as the Barkley men's voices, along with Audra's husband, Mark, could be heard. Victoria looked out the open door. She couldn't help but think on how the family was continuing to grow. After Jarrod and Nick married their women in a few weeks, only Heath would be without a spouse, as Mary Ann had broken the relationship off a few months before.

Jessie stood up as she saw the men start towards the house. "Looks like the men can smell the lunch cooking. I best go lay William in his crib." The rest of the evening was spent eating, visiting and laughing. It felt good and Jessie hoped the days ahead would hold more happiness than heartaches, more smiles than frowns and more joy than sorrow for her and the man she still referred to as Buck, or her Wyoming Wrangler.

***** ** wiki/Eugene,_California**

**Eugene** is a small unincorporated town in Stanislaus County, California, United States.

Try as I might, I could find nothing else, but when schoolmarm and I were talking and I found out there was indeed a Eugene, California so close to Stockton…I just couldn't resist since he didn't want to go back to Wyoming.

*****While I hope to do a sequel to this, the sequel I had hoped to do to End of the Rainbow finally came knocking, and I'm working on that. I'm not promising a thing on a sequel to this one.


End file.
